Looking for your real Na'vi name, and not just an adopted Pandora handle like Tsu'tey and Neytiri? Luckily there are some Na'vi name generators out there to help.

There are two kinds of generators, the random kind and the non-random kind. Rum + Monkey has one of the random ones, the Na'vi Name Generator; type in a name like "Paul," enter your gender (Tutean = male while Tutee = female), and the will of Eywa generates the appropriately AVATAR-ish name Tsyal. But the name is linked to its meaning; "Paul" means "small" and if you enter "small," you get Tsyal as well. (See the BabyNameAddicts site to figure out your name's meaning.)

The names are definitely Na'vi-sounding but the assignments are fairly random, rather than Pig Latin plays on people's names; witness that "Obama" becomes Bakteyo and "Bush" becomes Tzmukan. Exception: "Cameron" becomes Taronyu (that's "hunter" to us English-speakers).

This name generator wasn't good enough for Omatikaya, a.k.a. artist Carolyn Rogers, who created the Better Na'vi Name Generator. (It's also hosted on Rum + Monkey—that's the business R+M is in, they're the name-generator generator.) Now when you type in "Paul" you get Aka'ula, which is cooler-sounding if only because it has an exotic-sounding glottal stop.

Neither of these name generators gels yet with the Concise Na'vi Dictionary (PDF here) at Learn Na'vi, which seems pretty authoritative considering they're pushing a Learn Na'vi app. For instance, look up hufwe (Na'vi for wind) in the dictionary, enter "wind" in either name generator above, and you get back either Wor'itan or Adhiguna.

The bottom line is that these are great idea generators without necessarily being ready to translate at a United Nations level of accuracy. Have fun!

It’s the time of year when critics and fans alike release their best-of lists, and the lists of the best DVD movie releases of 2010 are now hitting the web. Not surprisingly, AVATAR features prominently on lots of these lists. It was the top-selling DVD of 2010, selling nearly 10 million copies (it was also the most pirated movie of 2010, with 16,858,000 downloads on BitTorrent alone, followed by Kick-Ass and Inception). What about critics’ lists? AVATAR is #2 on Rolling Stone’s Peter Travers’ Best-Of DVD and Blu-Ray movies of 2010 (at #1 is Inception, another favorite on lists this year). Travers writes, “The computerized creation that is Pandora overflows with beauty and terror.”

AVATAR fans like to casually use phrases from Na'vi (kaltxì for hello, oel ngati kameie for "I see you"), but there's lots more to the language than just the niceties of saying "hi" or "goodbye." James Cameron commissioned USC communications professor Paul Frommer to construct an entire, grammatically consistent language for Avatar's Na'vi to speak, then teach it to seven of the film's actors, as Frommer told USC News. The fan community has picked that language up with remarkable speed.

Consider that it took many years for Klingon to become popular and well-resourced (the Times of London notes an iPhone app, a language institute and even a Klingon version of Hamlet). Na'vi resources, in contrast, sprang up almost overnight, and today the most popular spot for Na'vi on the Web is Learn Na'vi, which includes links to both a concise Na'vi-English dictionary (PDF but also available as an iPhone app) and Na'vi in a Nutshell (also PDF).

Nutshell can look intimidating at first, but start reading it and you quickly discover some simple distinctions; tsmuk is the word for "sibling," but give it the masculine "an" ending and you get tsmukan or "brother." Similarly, the feminine "e" ending gives you tsmuke or "sister."

Speaking of speaking, you can begin listening to the language now at Tirea Radio as an aid to your practice, including chats among Tirea members, spoken-words by Paul Frommer, and music from the film. For a 16-second clip of Na'vi dialogue that centers on encountering a giant carnivorous plant, see the New York Times.

This year, James Cameron gave a blue Toyota Prius to each of the principal actors in AVATAR. That might be a little beyond your budget, but if you’re still shopping for the AVATAR fan on your holiday list, here are some ideas for AVATAR-related gifts. Amazon has a wide variety of AVATAR Na’vi collectible figures—including Neytiri ($28.99), the Leonopteryx ($38.99), Dire Horse ($26.99), and, of course, Jake Sully ($19.10). There is also Colonel Miles Quatrich—he’s only $5.70. To win the AVATAR Board Game, you have to be the first Na’vi warrior to collect eight Woodsprite tokens before the RDA destroys the Tree of Souls ($19.95). Fans can see images from AVATAR every day—even at the office—with the AVATAR 2011 Wall Calendar ($8.36 on Amazon), while kids will like the AVATAR reusable sticker book ($6.99). And finally, if your AVATAR fan has been really good, there’s the AVATAR Arcade Pinball Machine, priced at $4,477.50 on Amazon. But it includes free shipping!

There are lots of memorable Avatar movie quotes. And the more often you see AVATAR, the more quotes you'll find that stay with you. Here are some fan favorites from the original version of the movie – plus a few new ones from the extended cut.

"I told myself I can pass any test a man can pass."—Jake, in voiceover at the start of AVATAR, giving the first hint of the inner toughness that will help him face Pandora's challenges.

"It's my job to keep you alive. I will not succeed. Not with all of you."—Col. Quaritch telling the group of new arrivals (including Jake) that Pandora is an extremely hostile environment.

"You should see your faces!"—Trudy Chacon, flying Jake and Norm on their first tour of the Hallelujah Mountains. Haven't they ever seen million-ton slabs of rock floating in midair before?

"Out there, beyond that fence, every living thing that crawls, flies or squats in the mud wants to kill you and eat your eyes for jujubes."—Col. Quaritch, getting more specific.

"What about this one? Run? Don't run? What?"—Jake, in his avatar body, looking for guidance from Grace. Having just faced down a charging titanothere by standing his ground, Jake turns to find a much more dangerous thanator—and it's ready to pounce.

"Run, definitely run!"—Grace's reply.

"How will I know if he chooses me?"

"He will try to kill you."

"Outstanding."—Jake asking Neytiri how to tell if the ikran (mountain banshee) he's chosen is really his or not. Little does he realize the wrestling match that's about to take place. ...

"Shut up and fly straight!"—Jake to his ikran a few moments later, as he tries to get the hang of communicating with a mountain banshee.

"Today we made a kill, and I ate it. At least I know where that meal came from."

"Other body. You need to take care of this body."—Jake, fresh out of his avatar, being forced to eat packaged food by Grace. [From the extended cut]

"What did happen at the school, Grace?"—Jake, asking why the humans' school for Na'vi was closed. [From the extended cut]

"They set the AMP suit on fire. Driver's toast."—Lyle, describing a Na'vi attack on a mining party. [From the extended cut]

"You're not the only one with a gun, bitch!"—Trudy Chacon, in appropriately Pandoran war paint, as she turns her AT-99 Scorpion gunship against Quaritch's fleet as it attacks Hometree.

"Sometimes your whole life boils down to one insane move."—Jake, just before seeking out a great leonopteryx and becoming toruk makto.

"The aliens went back to their dying home. Only a few were chosen to stay."—Jake in voice-over, as the defeated humans march toward the ship that will take them away from Pandora—for now.

But possibly the most committed fan of AVATAR is IGGY, a.k.a. Mr. AVATAR, of Edmonton, Alberta and a member of this site. He's also known as the AVATAR Tattoo Guy, and with good reason: He has at least eight AVATAR-related tattoos on him, six of which are Neytiri, according to Geekologie. His license plate reads "NEYTIRI" as well, and the back gate of his pickup sports a montage of AVATAR scenes.

Cameron also told MTV that growing up in rural Canada and catching anything that moved to study it sparked his interest in the beauty of animals and plants. And thanks to his interest in scuba diving and all things undersea, Cameron is exceptionally well-versed in places and creatures most of us only glimpse in National Geographic.

It's not like Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana and other AVATAR stars were exactly unknown before donning blue skin and heading to Alpha Centauri, but we did wonder what they were working on since starring in such a high-profile movie. Here's what five of our favorites have been up to lately:

Sigourney Weaver (Grace Augustine) will star in Cedar Rapids in 2011, the story of a Midwestern insurance salesman's struggle to save his colleagues' jobs, and is rumored to also have a role in Ghostbusters III for 2012.